Musings on Spiritual Matters

The church exists by mission as fire exists by burning.  To understand the church’s mission, there are three foundational questions the congregation must first ask.  Peter F. Drucker, was the first to suggest these questions.  He states that “these questions are so rarely asked–at least in a clear and sharp form–and so rarely given adequate study and thought, is perhaps the most important single cause of organizational failure.”  Therefore, a congregation must explore these questions intentionally.

The first question is “Who are we?”  The problem is that often a congregation believes that this question is a waste of time.  People automatically assume they know the answer.  After visiting a congregation, often you will know what the answer is.  One friend of mine visited a congregation that is known for having the oldest building in Colorado.  Some congregations would answer this question like, “we are the congregation that has such and such family.”  After this question is asked, the follow question must be “is this who we want to be?”  Finally, the last question in this process would be “what do others  say we are?”  There can be rhetoric of what we want to be, but often what we are is how we are perceived.  We might say we are a loving congregation but what is experienced is a congregation that is loving to one another and not to newcomers.

The second question is “what is our business?”  This seems like another simplistic answer, but in reality this is a complex question.  Often the church answers this question from the inside-out instead of outside-in.  The users define the business.  The recipient must be satisfied with the organization’s product or service.  The man who fell among thieves on the road fully understood this when he experienced the “mission” of the Good Samaritan in contrast to the “mission” of the priest and Levite.  Jesus’ mission was outside of himself.  As with Jesus, the very existence of the church is not for itself; its mission lies in reaching out to those who need good news, and a message of hope.

The third question is “how do we get it done?”  The church stands in the middle of God’s eternal purposes and human needs.  There is the timeless principles that must influence specific circumstances.  A mission statement that details the timeless without the timely will accomplish little in reality.  A example of a blended mission statement is “God’s love is for all humanity so we will support orphans in this community.”  Of course, this is not a great statement, it took two seconds to process, but it highlights the nature of mission.  What is the timeless and how will this transcend the community?

These questions must be asked in a deep way before a congregation will move forward.  Assuming the answer will assume ignorance is correct.

Related posts:

1. Mission or Confusion
2. Peace or Mission
3. Deacons That See The Mission
4. Levels of Missional Understanding
5. Are We Really Against Creeds?

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This entry was posted by Matthew on Friday, January 22nd, 2010 at 4:19 pm and is filed under Church News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.